Burkitt's lymphoma in Ethiopian children.
Burkitt's lymphoma is the commonest malignancy seen in childhood in Ethiopia. Thirty-nine children admitted to the Ethio-Swedish Children's Hospital from January 1971 to December 1988 were studied. The male to female ratio was 1.3:1, 24(63%) were from non-malarious areas, 29(76%) came from areas with altitude above 1500 meters above sea level, 36(95%) came from areas with mean annual temperature above 16 degrees C and 35(61%) patients came from areas with mean annual rainfall above 1000 mm. The commonest presentation was abdominal mass followed by jaw swelling. Eight (20%) patients died in hospital. The geographic distribution of the tumour seems to be different from that seen in some parts of Africa. Studies with regard to Epstein-Barr virus linkage in Ethiopia are warranted.
Daniel
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Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
D000531:Altitude; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002980:Climate; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D008297:Male